Can Senate end secret holds?

Armed with nearly two-thirds of senators backing her, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) will make her case for ending anonymous “holds” before the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday.

Whether signatures on a letter translate to an actual vote to change rules in the tradition-bound Senate remains to be seen, but McCaskill is claiming momentum for her push to end the power of one senator to secretly block action on nominees. McCaskill, who has been championing the abolition of the rule for weeks, announced via Twitter Saturday that she received the support of Republicans Sam Brownback of Kansas and Kit Bond of Missouri — two names that guarantee the more than two-thirds of members necessary in a vote to permanently change the standing rules of the Senate.

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McCaskill’s office confirmed her tweet on Monday, saying she has the signatures of nine Republicans and all but two members of the Democratic caucus – except for Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Majority Leader Harry Reid, who cannot sign the letter because it is addressed to him.

"Sen. McCaskill believes this gives her the ammunition and leverage she needs to bring the issue to the Senate floor and change the Senate rule on secret holds," McCaskill spokeswoman Laura Myron said. "She’s prepared to bring up the issue, but she needs to work through the normal Senate procedures to do so. Our policy staff believes the first step will be consideration by the Senate Rules Committee."

Under current Senate rules, senators can block pending administration nominees anonymously for six days before they are obligated to disclose their names and reasons for their holds in the Congressional Record. But in recent years, senators have found ways to either evade or disregard the rules — by passing holds to another colleague before the six-day period ends, for example — leaving many nominees in confirmation limbo.

"First battle won," McCaskill wrote Saturday on her Twitter feed. "Now gotta get a vote."

The hearing before the Rules Committee Wednesday could be valuable in determining a way forward with a rules change, as there is some confusion as to the process on amending the complicated procedural code of the Senate. And even if McCaskill is successful in ending secret holds, there still will be no stopping senators in the minority party from proudly blocking administration nominees and clogging up the legislative calendar.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who were commissioned last month by Reid to try to come up with legislation to change the rule, and are slated to appear before the Rules Committee Wednesday.